Broken Mask
by KNowiski
Summary: What if Tamaki had been a little less understanding at the beach, and Kyoya just a little broken. Haruhi isn't the only one needing comfort that night.


I do not own Ouran Host Club, it belongs to Bisco Hatori, though I do wish I owned Kyoya for a day.

Kyoya POV

"You've made a mistake leaving yourself so open" I said to the wide eyed girl beneath me. I never noticed how small she is or how truly feminine she looks. 'Quit thinking like that, you are the Shadow King, and no one wants you' I thought to myself.

I could see the wheels turning in her head as she started to understand her mistake. But what she said next surprised even me, the calculating one.

"Kyoya-senpai you won't do it. I mean, there is nothing to be gained by getting into it with me, right?"

I was astounded to say the least. I couldn't tell if I was proud my mask has worked so well or to be hurt that this intelligent specimen thinks so lowly of me. However I knew I couldn't go down that road so I simply said "True enough, you are indeed fascinating." The term fascinating really pales in comparison to the truth. No one has ever seen past my shell so easily. Why did I let this rile me up, why should I care if she gets hurt, or angers Tamaki, or thinks so lowly of me? She is just some little commoner that has some kind of magnetism that attracted the rest of the Host Club. Surely it doesn't affect me, I'm an Oohtori.

"Kyoya-senpai you're even nicer than I thought." At this statement, I turned inquisitively towards her. "After all, you were just backing up what Tamaki-senpai said, right?"

How could I have thought even for a second that she could see past this mask? Tamaki, Tamaki, Tamaki, it's always about him. No one would believe that I was actually worried for her safety after those bastards threw her off the cliff. Dammit obviously she doesn't view me as anything more than her senpai and Tamaki's friend. I shouldn't let this bother me so much. I should be used to being less than first. My inner turmoil must have been visible to her because she says

"I hope I didn't say something wrong, you look pretty angry. Was I supposed to learn something else?"

Damn I should have never taken my glasses off, how am I supposed to explain the anger away? Most of my mind is screaming "Lie!" to me while this small part wants me to tell her the truth. I then look at her, truly look at her. Wide doe-like eyes, her hair unkempt from being tossed onto my bed, and that adorable confused expression on her face. Adorable? When have I ever used that term before? Well, I guess I have to face the facts, I like her, I mean I actually feel this emotional pull towards her.

"Kyoya-senpai?" she states my name with a hidden question, 'Are you alright?' I must have been zoned out for longer than I thought.

"Yes, Haruhi, I'm fine, don't worry, you learned what you should have." I told her mournfully.

Just then I hear a knock on my door followed by a blonde head poking around the now open door. 'This can't look good' I think to myself. Wait for the explosion, three…two…one…

"Kyoya! You rotten bastard! How dare you try to do something indecent to Haruhi? I'm sure you can go find some other hussy for whatever urges you have. I trusted you!"

I simply stand up and start walking towards the door when a pink blur walks swiftly passed me. She is heading straight for Tamaki, 'probably to tell him all about it and jump into his arms'. But she stops in front of him and reaches up slowly. And she slaps him! I couldn't believe my eyes. 'What is she doing? I'm the one she should've slapped.'

"Tamaki-senpai, how dare you just assume things like that? I thought he was your best friend. You didn't even ask for an explanation. For your information, Kyoya-senpai was being a total gentleman, simply trying to help me. I got sick and accidently came into the wrong room." She stated with only a slightly raised voice, the voice she tends to use on the twins. I am more than a little confused now and it must have shown because Haruhi then turns to me.

"And you, why did you just let him say that stuff and then just try to leave like nothing happened? You shouldn't let people talk down to you just because of a misunderstood situation." Then turning back to Tamaki, she said "I think you owe him an apology."

Tamaki must have been shell shocked for he just stared at her open mouthed. This was obviously not the response she was looking for, so she strode over to him and slapped him again, only a little softer this time. That woke him up.

"But Haruhi, he had you trapped on his bed with the lights off and his shirt off. Of course he was not being a gentleman."

I heard a soft sigh escape her lips and then "Well I'm sorry you got the wrong impression but you are the one at fault here Tamaki-senpai. And if you aren't going to apologize then I think you should leave. I don't know about Kyoya-senpai, but I can't stand being around this even more irrational side of you."

"Fine, but when he shows you what he's really like, don't come crying to me because I'm done." Tamaki shouted as he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

Haruhi then walked over to me and said "I'm sorry he said those things to you, I know they aren't true."

"How can you be so sure? Just minutes ago you were trapped beneath me on the bed and …" I started but she cut me off.

"I know because I know you and trust you. If you had really meant to have your way with me you wouldn't have been talking to me, you would have covered my mouth and just done it. But I know that that isn't something you would do. No matter how much you strive to keep that mask in place, I can see through it. I know you don't like always being called the heartless 'Shadow King' and fear you."

Still I was speechless; no one had ever seen me so plainly. I was raised to not have emotions, to not care about having friends or feeling love, but I just realized what I have been missing. It feels good to know that someone believes in me and would stand up for me with no merit involved. What she said truly struck me, made me feel vulnerable and human. I was so focused on my thought that I didn't notice a tear falling down my cheek until I felt a small, soft hand wipe it away. She then grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the bed. She sat me down and put my head in her lap. Admittedly it felt quite nice to be cared for. But I didn't want her to see me so broken, so I attempted to sit back up but she held my head in place and started to run her fingers through my hair. I hadn't felt this comfort since my mother passed away when I was six. Finally I gave in and buried my head into her flat stomach.

"I'm sorry." I muttered into the fabric of her nightdress.

"Never be sorry for your emotions, they are not bad things, they can actually make you better." She whispered down to me.

I'm not sure how long we sat there like that but I knew that I would have to move out of the embrace at some point. I held a little tighter for a moment before I loosened my hold altogether and sat up. I looked at her and saw that all knowing look in her eyes.

"Thank you" I said while looking down at my hands.

"You know you really should be more confident in yourself. You are one of the strongest people I've ever met, I hate seeing you allow other people to put you down" was her response.

"Thanks" I said again, only this time looking directly at her. This brought out a cute little grin on her face.

"Well if you ever need to talk or just be comforted, you always know where to find me" she said smirking up at me. As soon as that left her mouth, I reached over and yanked her into a hug. She stiffened at first but quickly relaxed into it and held me back. Too soon for my liking she let go and started to stand up.

"I guess I should go find my room now, it's pretty late" she stated as she headed for the door.

"No you can stay in here I will go find a room, don't want you getting lost" I said to her and moved towards the door after grabbing my glasses. With all that had been going on I didn't even notice the rumbling coming from outside. But soon a streak of yellow lit up the room followed by a loud crash and a small whimper. Wait, a whimper? I quickly turned around to find Haruhi on the floor holding her hands over her ears. I was shocked for a second before quickly striding over and picking the small girl up, 'wow she is so light' I thought to myself as I walked over to the bed.

"I'm sorry, Kyoya-senpai, you can put me down now I will be fine. I'm used to dealing with it."

Hearing her say she was used to it steeled my mind, I had to help her through this fear.

"No, Haruhi, I'm going to stay right here and comfort you through the storm just like you comforted me." Wow that was out of character for me, but I guess she cracked my mask and there is no turning back. I could tell she about to protest until another crash thundered through the room and she swiftly latched onto me for dear life. I began to simply hold her and mumble assurances into her ear, trying to drown out the storm. After a few more claps of thunder I decided to grab the sheet and wrap it around her so she would be more comfortable. Pretty soon I was lying on my side still holding Haruhi close to me, doing everything I could think of to distract her. As the storm slowly stopped, so did her tears.

I noticed her deep breathing and assumed she fell asleep. I tried to extract myself carefully from her hold without waking her up, but she had a death grip on me. As I continued to try and escape I heard a whisper coming from the girl "Kyoya…please…don't leave." After hearing my name with no honorific and such a sweet plea from her lips, there was no way I was leaving. I replaced my arms around her and buried my face into her soft hair and drifted off.

[Next morning]

-Outside the sleeping couples room-

"You wake him up" followed by "No you do it" was heard from the twins' mouths. They could not find Haruhi anywhere and figured the omniscient Shadow King would know but they were both too afraid to wake the sleeping demon. Finally they decided to let sleeping giants lie and went to find their other play toy 'Tono'.

-Back inside the room-

Haruhi awoken by the muffled argument nearby attempted to stretch out her weary body but found she was unable. She noticed the comfortable warmth that enveloped her and tried to recognize it. After remembering the previous night, her eyes shot open to a solid creamy white chest. She blushed realizing that Kyoya must have held her all night. It was now her time to try to extract herself from the embrace that held her captive. Her struggling was met with no results aside from some grumbling from the young teen holding her.

Kyoya felt movement against his chest which was slowly bringing him to consciousness. He grumbled as the comfy girl in his arms pushed and prodded. Finally after she gave up, he decided he would be nice and free her. He loosened his arms and opened his eyes to look down at Haruhi. He was a bit startled to see her already staring up at him.

"Good morning Haruhi" Kyoya rumbled out in his deep sleep ridden voice soon followed by a large yawn. This brought a giggle from the young teen still wrapped loosely in his arms.

"Good morning to you too, Kyoya-senpai" Haruhi stated with a small smile still on her lips.

"I thought you were a demon when you woke up senpai?"

"Well I suppose I normally am, but the comfortable pillow and commoner next to me must have allowed me to awake on the right side of the bed for once" Kyoya said while wearing his trademark smirk as he watched the blush rise on her cheeks.

"Maybe the commoner should let you hold her more often, after all you seem much more pleasant with a good sleep and no mask" Haruhi muttered quietly.

Kyoya looked surprised for a second before he tightened his hold on her once again and brought his lips softly to her forehead. "I would be more than okay with that arrangement, if only the commoner would agree" he whispered to her.


End file.
